Monday, September 23, 2013

Field Mobility News Weekly – Week of September 22, 2013

The Field Mobility News Weekly is an online newsletter made up of the most interesting news and articles related to field mobility that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting information that reflects market data and trends.

QR codes are being utilized to give consumers the ability to use their smartphones or tablets to gain instant information about people who have received the Nobel Prize. A new poster with the QR codes provides users with information about the Nobel Prizes in Chemistry when they scan the codes. Read Original Content

A team of researchers at Old Dominion University in Virginia, and Clemson University in South Carolina, are working on a project called ALERT: An Architecture for the Emergency Re-tasking of Wireless Sensor Networks. The goal is to enable emergency responders to have specialized software built into their helmets that can detect and reprogram remote networks in the area to report information needed in emergency situations. Read Original Content

The city of Ontario, California police and fire departments installed mobility solution software in their iPads, enabling police and fire chiefs to monitor in real time the active calls and unit activity from virtually anywhere. The city plans to deploy iPads to inspectors and detectives in the field to reduce radio traffic and allowing the 911 communications center to improve tracking of officers. Read Original Content

While social, mobile, analytics and cloud technologies add a new dimension to your model, to fully maximize their value consider the sum is greater than its parts. The formula for the Future of Work is called SMAC - social, mobile, analytics and cloud on one integrated stack, where each function enables another to maximize their effect. This newsletter is sponsored in part by Cognizant.

The United States Army is pursuing next-generation computing and display systems that minimize size, weight and power requirements for vehicle-mounted electronics in an effort to modernize combat vehicles and reduce costs. Central to this initiative is the leveraging of rugged tablet computers that can be used inside Army vehicles and then easily removed for use on foot by soldiers. Read Original Content

California’s Travis Air Force Base emergency responders are benefiting from a geospatial tool used with Air Mobility Command's map program. The tool enables responders to highlight and input cordons around threatened facilities, draft escape routes, and note locations of firefighters and police. Read Original Content

The Wall Street Journal provides answers to frequently asked questions about Apple’s new fingerprint scanner built into the iPhone 5S. Read Original Content

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has contracted a technology consulting firm to provide GIS remote sensing imagery analysis and other GIS technology services. Read Original Content

Officials in the city of San Carlos, California would like to expand their use of wireless technologies and sensors from “smart parking” to other opportunities including water systems and sewer systems. Read Original Content
There has been an increasing interest in the role mobile phone technology may play in nutrition surveillance systems in poorer areas and developing nations. Mobile phones may help lower the cost of data collection, improve data quality, and make data collection and transfer more timely. Read Original Content

Glacier Computer has unveiled a new rugged tablet, which includes enhanced specs and configurability. The T707 is sealed from dust and particulates and can withstand a water bombardment of 12.5 liters per minute from a nozzle. Read Original Content

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has an updated smartphone app with a disaster reporter feature that lets average citizens report on incidents and damages that they directly observe. Read Original Content

Intel and Stanley Black & Decker, owner of AeroScout RFID technology, have formed a partnership to integrate the AeroScout technology into Intel’s Core vPro processor used in enterprise mobile devices, including notebooks and tablets. Read Original Content

Many large mobile phone and computer makers are scrambling to make their devices more rugged, not only for field workers but also for the mass consumer market. The waterproof devices that cellphone makers launch, however, are not truly rugged. They may be waterproof but lack other aspects of ruggedness, like the ability to function well in low or high temperatures. Read Original Content

The city of Grand Rapids, Michigan deployed an RFID-powered waste management system, resulting in a savings of $1.2 million annually, a 37 percent increase in recycling participation, and a 40 percent increase in routing efficiencies. Read Original Content

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.